FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
The Birth of Venus
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Outline the story …
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant takes place in 1490’s Florence, following the life of a petulant girl into a cunning woman, with the fall of the Medici and the rise of Savonarola happening all around her. Growing up as a wealthy silk merchant’s daughter, Alessandra Cecchi had been given a certain amount of freedom. Described as plain and ungraceful, she had little interest in dancing and more love of art and literature. Her father allowed her to have some education, much to the consternation of her mother. As the political structure of Florence is thrown into chaos, to prevent her parents from sending her to a convent for safe keeping, she offers to marry someone instead; a much older man who is her brother’s lover. Her new husband allows her even more freedom for art, but at a heavy price.
In designing her dress I knew I wanted to use a shot silk. Being wealthy meant she would access to the finer silks. The blue and orange fibers of the shot faux-silk reflect her changeable nature. The trim I chose for her dress is simple at first glance but becomes more complex as you study it, which also represents her character. Several important scenes in the book take place with her in her shift, or camicia, and I knew I had to make that first. The simple lace is something I thought would suit her well.
Outline the construction…
The shift is completely hand-sewn poly-cotton lawn. It was honestly the most finicky fabric I have worked with so far. Even with drawing threads to keep the pieces on grain, just the sheer volume of the panels made it difficult to work with, especially when felling down the seams. The most enjoyable part for me was sewing on the lace. I couldn’t thank the FRYWU Facebook group enough for answering my question regarding that front. The worst part was trying to gather up the neckline.
I based the gown pattern and construction on a gown featured in Patterns of Fashion 3. I had never made a boned bodice before so it was a new experience. I only used a sewing machine to put in the boning channels and to attach the larger skirt seams. Once I put in the bones between the lining and interlining, I basted down the seam allowances and faced it with the shot faux-silk. This fabric was a pain to begin with, as it had come from the store with elastic bunched flowers sewn all over it. I had to pick those out first. The next new experience was cartridge pleating. It went smoother than I could have expected! Honestly I had so much fun with this and can’t wait to make a nicer one in the future.
I love your originality and thoughtfulness, not to mention all that hand sewing and superb cartridge pleating! You’ve sewn a wonderful costume.
What a thoughtful design and BEAUTIFUL outcome. The green fabric is so nice, that I would not have guessed it was a poly, and you handled it so well! Great work!
THOSE cartridge pleats are perfection… along with the rest of the dress as well!
i’m totally found of your cartridge pleats. But this entire dress is stunning. You did an amazing job
That dress is marvellous. The pleats – wow
I love this x1000! The colour, material, details! Wow!! Amazing!
So many clever skills and it looks beautiful!
Great job with the pleating. Very nice details on all of this. Well done.
Lovely! I can
My typing above got cut off. I meant, to say I can see the reference gown in my mind. Great job!
Thank you everyone so much!!